Amidst power crisis, now ‘bride’ crisis too for Karnataka farmers

At a time, when techies and even corporate executives are quitting lucrative jobs and taking up farming in Telangana, many young farmers in Karnataka are taking padayatras highlighting their plight of not getting brides for themselves.

Hyderabad: Can the matrimonial prospects of a young farmer be dependent on the party in power? For those who believe the answer is no, look at the situation of young farmers in Karnataka and Telangana. At a time, when techies and even corporate executives are quitting lucrative jobs and taking up farming in Telangana, many young farmers in Karnataka are taking padayatras highlighting their plight of not getting brides for themselves. Since farming is not considered a lucrative profession in Karnataka, the demand for would-be grooms who are farmers is dipping, they say.

These padayatras are gradually becoming a regular feature in Karnataka. One such padayatra was conducted by young farmers aged nearly 30 and above in February from Malavalli taluk in Mandya to Male Mahadeswara in Chamarajanagar district. Now, a similar padayatra is being planned in Mandya next month. This time, it will be from Mandya to Adichunchanagiri Mutt, covering nearly 70 km. The purpose is to seek “divine intervention” and to create awareness among the people on the crisis they were facing.

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The reason behind many young farmers not getting married, according to them, was the reluctance of families of brides to perform marriages of their daughters with farmers as they were “stuck” to rural life without much of an income. Many are of the opinion that young farmers do not get hefty packages and their profession is not secure as well.

Girimallu, a young farmer from Mandya was quoted in media reports saying: “The State government should announce an action plan to ensure Bride Bhagya for the youth engaged in farming…”

The second edition of march is being planned by bachelors in Mandya in December from Adichunchanagiri Mutt under the banner of Akhila Karnataka Brahmacharigala Sangha.

“We met the Adichunchanagiri Mutt seer Nirmalanandanatha Swamy and he gave his consent for the march. The objective is to create awareness in society about the bride crisis,” KM Shivaprasad, founder of the Sangha, was quoted in reports.

The situation in which Karnataka farmers are, apart from the matrimonial aspect, becomes all the more evident when one sees farmers in Telangana occupied in cultivating and harvesting crops and reaping bumper profits, while their counterparts in Karnataka are taking to the streets, staging protests demanding power supply and being worried about water shortage.

In Telangana, impressed with State government’s support for farmers and availability of sufficient water and power, many techies have quit jobs and are into farming. Adiq Ahmed, an MTech graduate from Agarmiyaguda, Kandukuru mandal, Rangareddy is cultivating papaya, guava and other fruits in 10 acres. Jaipal Naik quit his job in London and is cultivating avocado and other fruits in his village Debbadaguda, Kandukuru mandal. Both the young farmers had met Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy at his office in July early this year. He appreciated them for taking up farming, besides assuring all support to them from the government.